Gremlins 2 Hand Puppet Movie Prop Restoration

Our restoration and display of a screen used green Gremlins 2 hand puppet from the 1990 horror/comedy sequel.

We’ve had the great privilege to restore quite a number of original Gremlins and Gremlins 2 movie props. Originally created by Rick Baker’s Cinovation Studios for the Joe Dante film, the face sculpture on this green puppet is pretty unique. This particular foam and foam latex Gremlins 2 hand puppet exhibited typical age-related damage throughout. In addition to wear and tear on the ears, there was some light cracking throughout and a fair amount of damage to the fingers (including one that fully detached).

We patched the screen used puppet’s ears and reattached the finger. We went over the whole of the movie prop and, using archival materials, we filled in the larger gaps and cracks, and rebuilt the missing skin of his ears, fingers and matched the textures of the original prop’s sculpture. When we painted the repaired areas, we were, as we always are, careful not to paint over screen used material. With careful color matching, the repairs become invisible.

We then created an archival internal support to take the stress off the neck of the puppet. The Gremlin now has a custom stand and display base which included acrylic stands and heat formed hand cups to support the puppet and help with preservation over time. Even after our work, the puppet still looks completely original and has the feel and sense of age an original prop should. With all the repairs finished, the prop now displays beautifully.

The subtle and respectful work of our conservation artists is why many collectors won’t trust anyone else with their cherished original movie props and their restoration or display needs!